


A Truth Universally Acknowledged

by deandratb



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Marriage Proposal, Pre-Relationship, kind of like a, prologue ficlet, so i'm tagging it for both
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 14:36:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16120529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deandratb/pseuds/deandratb
Summary: Schneider decides to propose, but Penelope has objections.





	A Truth Universally Acknowledged

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snookolive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snookolive/gifts).



> Fic prompt: **“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”**

“Maybe we should get married.”

That was Schneider’s idea of a romantic proposal, on a random Tuesday night while Penelope was studying math at his place.

She was so lost in equations and word problems–god, she hated math even more now than she did the first time around–that she didn’t process his words right away. When she looked up and over at his side of the couch, he was watching her. Waiting.

“What did you say?”

“I said maybe we should get married. What do you think?”

“I think-I don’t-that’s insane!” Penelope sputtered, releasing her hold on her textbook and not noticing as it thudded onto the floor. “We’re not even dating!”

“We could,” he offered. “Officially, that is.”

“As opposed to…unofficially?”

“Well, yeah. What would you call it, when we watch movies together and get ice cream and you make me dinner or I help you study?”

“I call it being friends. By your definition, you’re also dating my mom.”

Schneider laughed. “Lydia is quite the catch, but everybody knows she’s married to your dad’s memory. She doesn’t like me like that.”

“And you think I do? Schneider, where is this even coming from?”

He shrugged, looking away.

“I just figured it’s time I get married. You know? I’m not getting any younger, I could give someone a comfortable life.”

Penelope frowned. “Shouldn’t love factor in there somewhere?”

“Well, sure, ideally,” he replied. “That’s why I asked you. You know I love you.”

“I love you too,” she agreed, still frowning. “But that’s not the same as being **in** love and wanting to get married.”

“The two don’t have to be the same.”

“But they should be. If you’re going to get married, it should be to someone you love, who you want to spend the rest of your life with. Someone you’ve dated!” she concluded in exasperation.

Sure, over the years he’d made a lot of comments about marriage and the women he was sleeping with, often whose names he didn’t even know. Penelope had assumed he was kidding, until he proposed to Nikki. Then she concluded he was insane.

But she hadn’t realized it might be something he actually wanted. Somebody to share his wealth with, his life with.

Honestly, it would be a pretty lucky life. Schneider had his faults, but he was a good man and he didn’t hesitate to help the people he cared about. That meant a lot in her book.

While Penelope thought about that, Schneider sat silently beside her. He was quiet for so long that it got her attention, because it was unusual for him.

“Hey, Earth to Schneider. What’s up?”

“I think you’re right,” he said slowly, as if he was still considering her words. 

“Well, good. About which part?”

“All of it.“

“Okay…”

“I’m sorry I proposed like that. It was dumb.”

“It wasn’t dumb.” Now she felt bad. He was one of her favorite people, and his intentions were good. “Random, yes. But also kind of sweet.”

Penelope shifted toward him a little on the couch. “It’s just that I’ve been married before. I wouldn’t want you to do something so fast that you regret it later, like marrying the first woman who seems willing so you don’t have to be alone. Trust me, getting divorced hurts.”

“I know.”

He would, she remembered. Unlike her, he was a child of divorce…a lot of them.

“So,” she tried again, “you’ll get to know somebody, find out how the two of you are together as a couple first. Then you can talk marriage.”

“Yeah,” he said softly, as his face brightened back up to its usual level of cheer. “That sounds good.”

“Okay then.” Crisis averted, Penelope thought with a rush of relief–and a small, surprising pang of regret. 

“I’ll be over for dinner tomorrow like usual,” Schneider told her as she picked her math book up off the floor. “But Saturday you don’t always do the whole thing, if you’re busy. Right?”

“Not always, no.” Back to half-listening, she flipped through pages until she found the chapter she’d been studying before. “If some of us have plans, we work around it, you know that.”

“What about this Saturday? Do you have plans?”

“No. Not that I know of.”

“Would you have dinner, then? With me?”

“Sure,” Penelope agreed, one hand on her graphing calculator and the other tapping a pen against her notebook. “Do you want to get takeout from that Chinese place we like?”

“No, I was thinking something a little less cas.’ How about I pick you up at seven?”

“Mm-hmm. Seven sounds fine.”

Slowly, the reaction he was waiting for arrived. Penelope’s expression changed so predictably, from placid agreement to dawning understanding to mild suspicion, he had to stop himself from laughing.

“Schneider.”

“Yes?”

“Did you just ask me out?”

“Yes.”

This time, she carefully closed her textbook and set it aside, followed by her notebook and pen. “Why?”

“Because you’re right. I should marry someone I love, who I want to spend my life with. And I’ve already found the right person.”

Schneider smiled. “I just have to date you first.”


End file.
